1328 Homo Contrarius

We humans are a contrary and shortsighted bunch. Homo Contrarius. We always seem to forget what got us where we are in our attempt to blame our problems on someone else.
Biting the hand that feeds us seems hardwired.
Like how other countries treat the US. We’ve poured a kajillion dollars worth of aid into every country imaginable. Yet those same countries vilify us at every turn. Biting the hand that feeds them.
Or when I read this news item about a big aerospace company that’s made huge amounts of money off NASA. Now that NASA has started to fully privatize things, this company is saying it’s not ready for that. They like the security of an ongoing NASA budget contribution.
Yet their executives contribute to political candidates and parties whose platforms are to “Get Government out of Business.”
I had an uncle that way. Spent his entire life in the aerospace industry working government contracts. Got a full retirement because, as management, he had to have at least as good a benefit package as his union employees. Yet today he hates unions, and is absolutely adamant against government spending tax dollars on infrastructure projects.
He’s like some of the farmers in red state areas. They hate Washington. Yet Washington built them the dams, that trapped the rivers, that irrigated the land, that they’re using to growing bushels of agricultural profits. Or being paid subsidies not to grow.
Not that all of these folks don’t do hard work and plenty of it. But when they have some of their tea parties, they don’t seem to remember that the tea wouldn’t have been grown, or the bag manufactured with space age material, if it hadn’t been for a little tax dollar investment, and a hand, from all the rest of us.
America, ya gotta love it.